Unit 1 (M1)

Unit 1 (M1)                                                                                                                 Scott Manton

M1 - explain mechanisms that can reduce the impact of communication barriers

Background Noise

There are many ways to overcome background noise in the workplace. If the noise is coming from a radio, for example, one of the ways is to prevent the noise from becoming an issues is to politely ask the person to turn their music down or turn it off all together. Another background noise issue which may occur in the workplace is talking too loud. If you are trying to have a conversation with a customer on the phone but there are people talking loudly it will cause you or the customer not hear what is being said and the customer will just hang up. To avoid this from happening, you could ask them to talk quieter or to ensure it will not be an issues ask them to go into another room and talk in there. 

Cultural Differences

One of the ways to overcome a potential catastrophe when it comes to cultural differences is to do some light research into your colleagues ethnic background. What people may find normal in some cultures are considered offensive in others. Greeting one another are different it different cultures too. If you go to do a handshake but the other person bows, it could cause an awkward situation which could escalate into something further. That is why doing research is important and doing research it could also lead to conversations which help to get to know your colleagues better. 

Diverse Audience

Having a diverse audience is a difficult barrier to overcome. If you're giving a speech and your audience is a mix of adults and children it will hard to make appealing for both sides. One of the ways to overcome this barrier is to keep the speech short and sweet. Having a speech that gives enough information for it to be useful and is also short enough to keep the children from becoming restless is good way of overcoming this barrier. It is one of the tougher barriers to get past but if done correctly it is a great feature to have. 

Different Meanings

You have to be wary when it comes to what you are saying because many words have two or more meanings. For example; Football. Football is the most popular sport in the world but Americans call our football "Soccer" so when you are talking you need make it clear what you are talking about. One way to ensure this is to elaborate on what you are saying, which helps to make it clear and shows you are both on the same page. Also, simply asking a question which they can answer shows they fully understand what you are talking about. 

Language

When trying to communicate with somebody who speaks little English or a different language entirely it will be extremely difficult to talk to them. A way to overcome this barrier is when sending e-mails, use Google translate to change the language from English to their first language. Not only that, but using images in e-mails is another way to communicate. When try to talk to them using hand gestures will help them to get a clearer understanding of what you're trying to say. And of course, trying to learn each others languages is great way to overcome this barrier but it could take a very long time to learn a new language.